Trail of the Gods: The Morcyth Saga Book Four (14 page)

“Alright,” James tells him. “Anything
else?”

Giving him a smile, he says, “Just that
we’re all glad you’re back.”

“So am I,” agrees James.

Roland leaves him there in his room alone,
shutting the door behind him as he leaves. He moves over to his
window and looks out at the recruits. Jorry and Uther are
demonstrating sword techniques while Illan explains them, how to
achieve them and their various merits.

Errin is watching the exhibition with keen
attention and is unconsciously pantomiming with her hands the
motions she sees.

He leaves his room and makes his way out to
his workshop. On the way, Illan sees him and waves him over. As he
approaches, Uther and Jorry come to a halt and lower the wooden
swords they’ve been using for the demonstration.

To his recruits, Illan says, “For those of
you who don’t know him yet, this is James, the master of The
Ranch.”

Eight pairs of eyes stare at him as he comes
to a stop in front of them. “James,” Illan continues, “these young
men and lady, have all agreed to help in keeping the security and
to warn of any possible attack.”

“You know Devin,” he says. Devin gives him a
smile and a nod.

“Yeah,” James replies, returning the smile,
“we’ve met once or twice.”

“The other ones are, Orry, Caleb, Errin,
Jace, Nerrin, Moyil, and Terrance.” He points to them one by one as
he makes his way through the group.

When he’s done, James nods to them all and
says, “Glad to have you aboard. I just have a couple things you
need to know. First of all, I do magic.” Pointing over to his
workshop, he continues, “Over there is my workshop and when I’m
inside, don’t disturb me unless it’s for an emergency. It could
prove disastrous. Second, I may have experiments running out in the
forest. Don’t touch them! Walking by them will cause no harm, but
there may be some where coming into contact can be fatal.”

Some of the recruits’ eyes widen and their
faces pale. James smiles inwardly, these must’ve been the ones who
had moved the crystals out in the forest while he was gone. “I
would be most unhappy if I had to go and tell your family you’re
dead because you couldn’t leave well enough alone. Understand?” He
gets eight nods in response. “Good!”

“Finally, I would appreciate it if you all
would stop spreading rumors about me. What goes on here, I want to
stay here. Anyone caught talking about anything I do to someone
outside of here, will be discharged.” Pausing a moment to let that
sink in, he asks, “Any questions?”

Eight hands fly into the air and he says,
“In case you’re going to ask me about whether or not I’ve captured
evil spirits or not, I haven’t.” Seven hands lower and only one
remains, Errin’s. “Yes?” he asks her.

“Is it true that the Empire sent a mage and
fighters here to kill you?” she asks.

Nodding, he says, “Yes, that’s true. I have
made some enemies and they may come here seeking revenge for wrongs
they may feel I have done them. But I assure you, that I never
sought them out, nor did I ever instigate anything with any party.
My general philosophy is live and let live, be nice to all and to
help those you can.”

“Anything else?” he asks. When no questions
are forthcoming, he says, “Then I’ll let you resume your
training.”

“Thank you, sir,” Illan says to him.

“You’re welcome,” he replies and then begins
moving back toward his workshop. From behind him, he hears Illan
say, “Alright now! Pair up and we’ll practice the techniques you’ve
just been shown.”

Glancing over his shoulder, he sees the
recruits picking up the wooden swords lying beside them on the
ground. Then they get up and begin pairing off. He sees Devin has
managed to be paired with the dark haired Errin.

Finally back in his workshop, he closes the
door and takes his seat at the workbench. They all look so young,
none can be over fourteen. He fervently hopes none come to harm
while they’re here.

Turning back to the matters at hand, he
decided to go into town after lunch to take care of his business
with Alexander. What is he going to do for funds? He’s not going to
be able to put that off indefinitely, not from what Roland
said.

He hears a wagon rolling toward the house
from down the lane so he gets up and looks out the window. Ezra is
returning with Miko and Fifer from town. James sighs when he sees
the amount of food stacked in the back of the wagon. Expensive.

These people go through food like a horde of
locust. Returning to his seat at his workbench, he decides to
shelve that worry for awhile. His main concern now is the ‘Fire’
and getting it hidden away. In a day or two, the box he’s
commissioned will be completed and he will need to have everything
in readiness so he can move fast to hide it for good.

He’s already come up with the general idea
of where to hide it. Now he just needs to figure out how to hide it
from searches, especially those magical in nature. The first
problem, how to supply the power for the spells needed to hide it,
seems to have been solved. On the chest, he’s having five crystals
embedded, one on each side. Four can be responsible for the
gathering of magic, the fifth needs to be able to draw on the
stored power of the four to empower the spells of hiding.

What he needs to figure out now, is a way
for magic to hide the ‘Fire’. He finally decides to take something
out into the forest and then try to locate it by magical means. All
the while he’ll be focusing on how the magic is locating it and try
to come up with a way to counter it.

He takes one of the stools from the workshop
and etches an ‘X’ in the top of it. Then he leaves the workshop and
carries the stool about ten yards into the forest. After setting it
down, he returns to the workshop and then takes out his mirror as
he begins trying to locate the stool…

“Lunch!” he hears Ezra calling. Canceling
the spell, he puts his mirror down in frustration. He understands
better now how the magic is locating it, he just hasn’t come up
with a good way to actually counter it.
This is harder than I
thought.

As he gets up from the workbench, he
realizes he’s quite tired from all the magic he’s been doing. His
head aches a little and when he leaves his workshop, he has to
shade his eyes to keep the sun from hurting him. Once in the
kitchen, he washes up and then takes his place at the table.

“How’s it going?” asks Jiron.

“Frustrating,” he replies. “Just when I feel
I understand, I realize that I don’t.”

“I’m sure you’ll get it,” Tersa says
encouragingly. “This will just take time.”

“I know,” replies James. “Just not sure how
much time we’ll have.”

“What do you mean?” she asks.

“Oh, nothing,” Turning to Illan, he asks,
“How’s the training going?”

Shaking his head, he says, “I doubt if
anyone will kill themselves with their sword, but they’ve just had
no experience at this sort of thing. A couple are good marksmen
with the bows, especially Errin, but they’re hopeless with swords.
Given enough time, I’m sure we can shape them up.”

“It’s only been a few days,” Jiron says.

“True,” admits Illan.

“I’m going into town today,” he announces to
everyone.

“I better come with you,” Jiron states.

“Me, too,” Miko pipes up.

“Alright,” he agrees. “We’ll leave right
after lunch.”

James is quiet during most of the meal, his
mind on the problem with the spells as well as the funds needed for
this place. There’re lots of gadgets he could introduce into this
world from his own that would turn a profit, like the steam engine
or the printing press. But revolutionary ideas like those usually
bring turmoil and strife among those trying to control them. This
world already has enough to worry about. Maybe his trip into town
will bring an idea or two.

When they finish eating, they go out to the
barn and saddle their horses. On the way down the lane, James looks
over to the construction site and sees they’ve managed to get the
walls to the house up and have begun to finish the roof.

At the end of the lane, red haired Moyil
stands guard, the horn hanging at his side. “Do me a favor,” James
says as they approach him.

“Yes, sir?” he asks.

“Don’t blow the horn when we return,” he
tells him.

Giving him a nod, he replies, “I won’t sir,
promise.”

“Thank you, Moyil,” he says as he leaves the
lane and turns onto the road.

“You know,” says Jiron, “since we’ve gotten
the extra lads, we’ve been bothered by fewer people.”

“Good,” states James. “They’re a nuisance we
can do without.”

Once in town, they make their way to
Alexander’s where he arranges for Roland to be able to withdraw
funds. He also withdraws another two hundred golds. Leaving
Alexander’s shop, he then heads over to the blacksmith to check on
the status of his box.

They find Kraegan again at the anvil working
on some kind of iron bar. When they pull up, one of his apprentices
tells him of their arrival. Glancing over to them, he hands the
iron bar to his apprentice who continues working the metal while he
goes over to greet them.

“Ah, master blacksmith,” James greets
him.

“Here to see about your box?” he asks.

“That’s right,” he replies. “Just wondering
if it was ready yet?”

“About two more days,” he says. “All but the
interior lining is completed and the man who will be doing that
gets back in town this evening. Tomorrow at the earliest, but most
likely the day after.”

“Excellent,” exclaims James. “I appreciate
the update and I’ll not keep you from your work any longer. Good
day to you.”

“Good day to you, too,” Kraegan says. Then
he returns to where his apprentice is working the bar.

“Are we heading back now?” asks Miko.

Shaking his head, James says, “One more stop
first.”

He takes them down to where Burl the
chandler’s shop is located and stops in front of it. As he gets
down from his horse he sees Mary, Devin’s mother, coming out the
door carrying a bundle of goods.

“Good day, Mary,” he greets her.

“Why, James,” she says to him, a smile on
her face. “It’s so good to see you. How is Devin doing?”

“He’s taking well to it,” he says. “He seems
to be enjoying it.”

“Good,” she says, almost breathing a sigh of
relief. “He’s always been a quiet boy and I was worried about
him.”

“He’s doing fine,” he assures her.

“He never did much care for the farm,” she
says. “Oh, he did well and I believe he would’ve made a good
farmer, but his heart never was in it. I remember when you first
came to us, his eyes lit up at the things you talked about. And
then after you faced the demon, or whatever that was, I knew he’d
never again be satisfied with farming.”

“I’m sorry,” he tells her.

“Oh, don’t be feeling bad or anything,” she
tells him. “I may worry, but that’s a mother’s prerogative. I know
a boy must find his own way, maybe this is his. At least with you,
he shouldn’t get into any real danger.”

James glances to Jiron a second then says,
“We’ll try to keep him safe.”

“I know you will,” she says
matter-of-factly. “You’re a good man. But I must be off, no telling
what the girls have gotten themselves into while I’ve been here in
town.”

“You take care Mary,” he says.

“You too, James, it was nice seeing you,”
she says as she moves past him with her bundle. Down the street, he
can see her horse and wagon.

Feeling better about Devin being out at The
Ranch, he proceeds into the chandlery.

Burl is behind the counter and looks up as
the door opens. He breaks into a smile when he sees them walk in
through the door. “Welcome,” he greets them.

“Good day to you Burl,” James replies.

“What can I get for you today?” he asks.

“Just looking around,” he tells him.

“If you need anything, just let me know,” he
says.

“I will,” James assures him.

As they move through his shop, he looks at
the goods and tries to come up with an idea, possibly a variation
on what’s already available. He sees bolts of cloth and other items
people may want to buy, but nothing really springs to mind.
Discouraged, he leaves the shop as Burl’s “Come again” follows him
out the door.

“Didn’t find anything?” Jiron asks him.

“No,” he replies. Before mounting, a thought
suddenly occurs to him. He looks around at the people on the
streets and a smile comes to his face. Why didn’t he notice it
before? Turning around, he returns to Burl’s store. Ten minutes
later he leaves, Jiron and Miko laden with several bundles
each.

“What do you want with all this stuff for
anyway?” he asks.

“You’ll see,” he replies cheerfully.
Yes,
you’ll definitely see.

Back at The Ranch, he has them put all the
bundles in his room and then asks Tersa to join him there. Before
closing his door, he asks Jiron and Miko to leave.

“Why?” Jiron asks as he’s being escorted
out.

“Because I like surprises,” James replies,
shutting the door in his face.

As he stands at the door with his ear to it,
he tries to listen in to what they’re saying inside.

“That’s not very polite,” admonishes
Miko.

“Neither is shutting the door in my face,”
he retorts. “Shhh!” he says to Miko as he tries to hear what’s
being said inside. James is talking so softly that he can’t make
out the words.

Suddenly the door opens up and he stumbles
into the room, almost colliding with his sister. “Jiron dear, be
good enough to bring the bundles to my room. Thank you.”

He moves aside to allow his sister to pass
through the door and then he turns to see James smiling on the bed.
“What?” he asks, his smile making him slightly irritated.